History Rewritten
by I've Got Nerve
Summary: Season Two is the sequel to Rewriting History, which is part one of the History Chronicles. We have Katherine and Klaus and Elijah and all the drama that comes from them. How does Rebecca change the outcome of Season two or does she change it at all? If you haven't read the first part, this one won't make sense at all.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so here's the first chapter of Going Down in History. Since I have this started now, I'm going to TRY to put a Supernatural chapter up sometime this week. But be patient. I'm home-schooling my cousin and I have to pick up my brother from school and my mom from work every day due to my dad getting a job where he needs their car. So I have three jobs and I'm not getting paid for either one. Doesn't that suck?

Chapter One

Everything was wrong. The founder's council had used some device to incapacitate the vampires in town and then had proceeded to lock them up in the basement of Grayson Gilbert's old doctor's office.

Damon had been caught; Anna had been caught; the tomb vampires had been caught. Then John Gilbert had set fire to the building and Damon had been inside.

Rebecca and Stefan - with the magical assistance of Bonnie - had helped get Damon out. However, the device that had helped incapacitate the vampires had also worked on the mayor and Tyler Lockwood for some reason that nobody knew.

The mayor had just gone down when the device had started and Tyler had been driving when the noise had started. Caroline and Matt had been in the car with him and they'd gotten into a car crash. Tyler and Matt were okay, but Caroline was in the hospital and in surgery. There was internal bleeding.

That was why Rebecca found herself at the hospital with Matt and the sheriff. Neither was doing too well. Not too long ago, Stefan, who had been with her at the hospital, had been called away by Elena. Elena had come home from the Founder's day parade to find Jeremy asleep in his room, a half a bottle of pain pills gone. A small vial of blood had been found in the bathroom, empty. The red stains on the inside of the tube had been a giveaway.

Rebecca had wanted to go with Stefan to check on Jeremy and Elena. Both Jeremy and Elena would need her if Jeremy had become a vampire. She hoped Jeremy didn't become a vampire - he was moody enough as it was. He didn't need to feel out of control anymore than he already did.

But she couldn't leave. Matt and Liz needed someone there that wasn't completely broken up. Rebecca had taken it upon herself to fill that role.

The doctor came out and spoke to Liz about Caroline.

"How is she?"

"Uh, it's not good news," the doctor said. "There were some complications. Her bleeding is very extensive."

"Oh, God!" Liz sobbed out, a hand coming up to rest over her mouth.

"Now, we're doing everything we can."

Matt put his arms around Liz and she grabbed his arms like they were her last link to life.

Rebecca felt a fire begin in her throat as tears formed in her eyes. God, Caroline could die tonight. She could . . . she could . . .

God, where was Damon! If he were here, he could heal her. Rebecca would've done it herself, but she didn't know if she had enough self control yet.

* * *

When Stefan got to Elena's house he found her waiting on the stairs for him. She grabbed his arm and led him upstairs to Jeremy's room.

Jeremy was awake and sitting on the bed looking depressed.

"What happened?" Stefan asked. He knew the basics - pain pills, overdose, vampire blood.

"He said that Anna gave him her blood and then he took these pills, and now - I mean, he looks fine, but then again so do you, so I - I don't know."

Stefan knelt in front of Jeremy and grabbed his chin to make the teen look at him.

"No, I'm fine. I feel exactly the same," Jeremy snapped, pushing Stefan's hands away.

"Should I call a paramedic up here?" Elena asked. "What should I do?"

Stefan stared into Jeremy's eyes, looking for some hint of vampirism, some hint of the predator he would be if the blood had worked the way Jeremy had meant it to. There was nothing there.

"No, he's fine."

"You mean I'm _not_ a vampire? Damn it!"

"Don't say that, Jeremy," Elena said. "Jeremy, why would you want that?"

Jeremy stood up and looked at Elena like she was stupid for asking such a question. "Did you hear about Anna? What happened to her tonight. She's dead."

So, that was what this was about. Jeremy had lost someone he loved again.

"Jeremy, come here. Sit down." Stefan gently shoved the teen onto the bed. "I am very sorry about Anna, but it's very important that you listen to me right now. With every passing moment Anna's blood is leaving your system. If you tried to kill yourself right now, you could really die."

Jeremy looked away, but Stefan could see defiance flash across his features quickly.

"Hey!" Stefan smacked Jeremy on the cheek. "Do you understand me?"

"Stefan . . ." Elena said.

Jeremy looked at him, and Stefan waited for an answer.

"Yeah, I understand."

"Good."

Stefan was angry and disappointed in Jeremy. Yes, Jeremy had every right to feel alone because of Anna dying. He could feel upset and hurt about it even. But what he shouldn't do was try and leave everyone else behind - he shouldn't want to shut everything out just so he wouldn't feel pain.

"What about the pills that he took?" Elena asked.

"He didn't take enough to die, so Anna's blood actually cured him of that."

Elena ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "I need to be at the hospital, but -"

"No, go. I'll stay here with Jeremy."

"No, I don't need a baby-sitter," Jeremy said.

"After what you tried to do," Elena started looking at him. "Yes, you do."

* * *

"How's Caroline?" Bonnie asked.

Only three people had been allowed back into the ER, and Bonnie had chosen to stay behind and let Rebecca, Matt, and Liz go back. Rebecca had gone back, not thinking about consequences and had immediately regretted it. So many people were back there, and many of them had been hurt and bleeding.

"She's not good, Bon," Matt said.

"What happened?"

Rebecca had already told Bonnie what had happened, but she guessed the witch needed to hear it from Matt - a first person account of what had happened.

"We were drivin' and then Tyler heard this noise and he got - he got, like, this migraine or something, and he lost control of the car and I - I thought that Caroline was fine and then . . . and then she wasn't, so . . ."

Bonnie looked at Rebecca, who narrowed her eyes at the witch. Rebecca could see the guilt play over Bonnie's face, and Rebecca was surprised when she felt no sympathy for her friend. Former friend?

Could Rebecca ever bring herself to trust Bonnie again? Could she be friends with someone who could lie straight to her face about something so important it could have ultimately ended her life.

It was in that moment of indecision that Damon had decided to finally show up. When Rebecca saw him walk through the entrance doors she stood up and walked as fast as possible without running. He had his arms open and waiting for her.

"Damon!" she muttered against his chest. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here. It's bad - really bad. Matt and Tyler are okay, but Caroline is . . . She might not make it. And Jeremy tried to kill himself tonight. I _told_ Elena to keep an eye on him tonight, but I guess it happened before Elena got home. And Bonnie's all . . . _things have to change; Damon has to change_ - and then I growled at her for threatening you, and Stefan had to keep me from actually attacking her and -"

"Hey!" Damon almost snapped. "Stop. One problem at a time and not so fast."

Rebecca explained about Tyler being able to hear the device, how it had given Tyler a migraine and how it had led to the accident. Caroline's side of the car had been hit the hardest.

Then there was Jeremy being an idiot and trying to turn himself into a vampire. Now all those vampire questions made sense.

"Okay, we need to talk," Damon said. "But not here. Where's Liz?"

"In the ER. Um, waiting for news on Caroline."

"Okay, come on."

Damon grabbed her hand and led her back into the ER. Liz was at the nurse's station when they found her.

"Liz. I came as soon as I got Becca's message. Is Caroline okay?"

"It's - they're doing everything they can," Liz shook her head. "I need your help, Damon."

"Sure, anything, Liz."

Liz led Damon and Rebecca off to the side. Rebecca could tell Damon meant what he'd said. He actually wanted to help her. Damon had genuine affection for Liz Forbes.

"Mayor Lockwood is dead," Liz said. "They thought he was a vampire. They put him in the basement."

Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "Mayor Lockwood was a vampire?"

"No, no, no. A mistake was made. I . . . John and Richard came to me tonight and told me what they were planning. The device, the fire in the building. They wanted to use the town as bait and when I said no, John knocked me out and locked me up. And then . . . the mayor . . . they said he dropped like the others when the device went off, but he . . . but he couldn't have been a vampire. I've known the man my whole life."

Damon nodded and Rebecca again began wondering _why_ the device had worked on the mayor and Tyler. What were they?

"Now Carol Lockwood is gonna want answers. But all I can think about if Caroline and - and I'm -" Liz broke off and began to sob.

"Hey, it's okay," Damon said, pulling Liz close. Rebecca had never seen Liz so upset, not even when her husband had left her for a man.

Being around all this grief was making Rebecca edgy. Add that on to being uncertain about Caroline's survival rate, and Rebecca didn't know how much longer she'd be able to take being around these humans - humans that were weak and hurt and bleeding.

"Bonnie, how's Caroline?" Rebecca heard Elena's voice. She caught Damon's attention and gestured to him that she was going to find her friend.

Elena and Bonnie were right by the ER doors and both had the same worried expression on their faces.

"She's weak," Bonnie said. "They don't know if she's gonna make it."

"What? Isn't there something you can do? Like a - like a spell or something?" Elena asked.

Rebecca looked expectantly at Bonnie. Could Bonnie help fix the problem she'd help create?

"She doesn't know how," Damon said, appearing behind Rebecca. "Do you?"

"No, I don't," Bonnie answered.

"No, you don't. Because it took Emily _years_ to learn a spell like that," Damon said.

"Yeah, well, I can take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn."

Rebecca glared at Bonnie. "Sop antagonizing him," and then to Damon, "Stop antagonizing her."

Damon rolled his eyes but then focused on Rebecca. "I can give Caroline some blood."

Rebecca nodded, but Elena said, "No. No way."

Damon basically ignored her. How could she stand there looking innocent when Rebecca was right there. Elena was acting like nothing had happened.

"It'll just be enough to heal her. She'll be safe in the hospital. It'll be out of her system in a day. She'll be better."

"It's too risky," Elena said. "I can't agree to that."

Damon whipped his head to the side. "No one is asking _you_," he snapped.

Elena flinched at his tone. She seemed not to understand why he was acting that way. But before he could explain away his attitude, Bonnie interrupted.

"Do it." Bonnie looked at Elena and said, "This is Caroline . . . okay? We can't let her die." Then to Damon, "Do it."

"I see vampires aren't bad when you want something done and you can't do it yourself," Rebecca said.

"Becca . . ."

Rebecca turned her head away, a sure sign that she didn't want to listen.

"If I do this, you and me, call a truce?" Damon asked Bonnie.

"No," Bonnie said smugly. "But you'll do it anyway. For Rebecca."

Bonnie turned and walked away. How dare the witch use Damon's love for Rebecca against him. He could see Bonnie was going to be a problem. One they would have to remedy in some way.

Rebecca was surprised when Damon grabbed her arm in one hand and grabbed Elena's arm in his other.

"We need to talk. Now."

Once they were in a semi-secluded spot near the nurses station Damon said, "I know this is probably the last thing you wanna do right now, but we should talk about what happened tonight."

Rebecca noticed Damon was talking strictly to Elena and so Rebecca asked a natural question. "What happened tonight?"

"Elena . . ." Damon gave the brunette time to answer for herself. "I was at your house . . . on the porch. We were talking, all cathartic, feelings exposed.

"You were at my house?" Elena asked.

Damon glared at her. "Really? You know I was. You tried to kiss me, Elena. Rebecca deserves to know what happened."

"Okay, I don't have time for this, Damon."

Elena went to go by the other two, but Rebecca grabbed her arm.

"Elena . . . tell me this is a joke . . . Please."

Oh, God, all of Rebecca's friends were becoming backstabbers. How had their friendships come to this? Bonnie had lied and almost gotten them killed. Now Damon was saying that Elena was pulling a Katherine and trying to steal Damon away.

A deep and primal part of Rebecca spoke the word _mine_. It flowed through her entire being and she knew she would fight to keep this man. Forever.

"Elena!" There were heels clicking on the floor toward them. Jenna. "I came as soon as I got your message."

"Where've you been?" Elena asked.

"At the fire department. I had to fill out a report. I told you earlier. I -"

"No, you didn't," Elena said.

"Yes, I did."

"No, Jenna, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

Rebecca continued watching the back and forth tennis match and she surreptitiously glanced down to see if Elena's necklace was in place. It was, so the confusion wasn't due to compulsion. So, either Elena was lying or Jenna really had told Elena about filling a report - or she'd told someone who _looked_ like Elena.

Katherine.

_Fuck_, Rebecca thought.

"Oh . . ." Damon said; he'd obviously come to the same conclusion. "Mm-mm, you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Elena asked.

"Nothin'," Damon said. "Come find me and Rebecca when you're done. We need to talk, again."

* * *

Back at the Gilbert residence, Jeremy had begun to sketch in his book, and Stefan was watching over him.

"So how was Caroline when you left?"

"Elena said she'll call when she finds something out."

Stefan leaned against Jeremy's desk. "Jeremy, why'd you wanna be a vampire?"

Jeremy shook his head and shrugged. "Well, when I heard Anna was dead, it was just . . . it was just too much. You know, I just - I wanted to turn it off, you know, and . . . and Damon said I could."

"Well, Damon's right. I mean . . . you can turn it off," Stefan agreed. "You can turn off the hurt, emptiness, all of it. But it's deceiving, Jeremy. It doesn't last."

Stefan shook his head. Not so long ago, he'd wanted to turn his emotions off and now here he was promoting emotions.

"I mean, an eternity of feeling nothing . . . That's it's own torture. Sooner or later, you have to turn it back on again."

Jeremy seemed to be taking everything Stefan in and accepting it. The teen looked away and swallowed vulnerably.

"Well, if you could be human again, would you?"

"Of course I would."

If he could . . . if he could be human, he could marry Elena, grow old, they could have kids, a family.

"I hate what I am," Stefan admitted. "It's impossible not to. You don't want this, Jeremy. You don't want this."

Stefan heard some keys jingle and a lock click out of place. Either Jenna or Elena were home.

"I'll be right back," Stefan told Jeremy.

He went downstairs and saw Elena at the doorway, only . . . she had different clothes on.

"Hey," he said, still wondering why her clothes were different. "How's Caroline?"

"Not good," Elena said.

Stefan brought his arms up to wrap around her, and her arms came up to wrap around his neck.

"Just what I needed," she whispered.

Then it clicked: Someone had stolen Elena's stuff earlier tonight. _This_ someone. Katherine.

Stefan growled and shoved the brunette away from him, knocking her over the couch and onto the floor. It didn't faze her. She was back on her feet in about two seconds.

"At least I fooled one of you," Katherine said.

Katherine came at him, but Stefan shoved her into a wall. He put an arm over her throat.

"Feel better?" she asked.

Stefan growled again. This woman had ruined his and his brother's lives. To say she wasn't welcome here was an understatement. Suddenly Katherine grabbed Stefan by the arm and twisted until his shoulder dislocated from the joint. He grunted and fell to his knees.

Katherine vanished, but Stefan could tell she'd gone toward the back door, because Elena, Damon and Rebecca were coming through the front.

"Stefan?" Elena said coming to him and helping him up. "W - what happened?"

Stefan saw Elena wince when he popped his shoulder back into place. He saw Damon look around and Stefan knew his brother had figured it out.

"Katherine happened," Damon said.

"Jeremy!" Elena said, racing up the stairs.

Rebecca followed Elena up the stairs; she wanted to see Jeremy too.

Rebecca, Damon and Elena had left the hospital after Damon had sneaked into Caroline's room to feed her some of his blood. Then, when they'd left, they'd told Elena about Katherine.

Katherine, the evil-bitch-monster-of-death, who had tried to kiss Damon. Who had wanted him to kiss her back. Rebecca didn't like it one bit. She wasn't going to play one of her little games with her.

When she saw Jeremy still alive she first hugged him and then smacked him on the back of the head.

"Don't ever do something like that again!" she said. "What's the matter with you?"

Jeremy looked shame-faced, at least.

Then Rebecca, doing a total 180 . . . said, "I'm so sorry about Anna. I know you loved her."

Jeremy nodded sadly.

"Becca . . ." Elena said softly. "Do you mind picking this up later? I kind of need to talk to Jer alone."

"Oh, um . . . sure."

* * *

Downstairs, Damon and Stefan were in the kitchen talking. Stefan had needed ice for his shoulder since he didn't heal as quick as he should. Damon blamed it on the animal diet.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asked, referring to Katherine.

"No," Stefan answered.

"Well, the woman certainly knows how to make an entrance."

"She said she at least fooled one of us tonight. What does that - what does that mean?"

"She pretended to be Elena too when I showed up earlier tonight," Damon answered.

Rebecca came into the kitchen and Damon noticed how she came straight to his side. She seemed worn out. It had been a busy, complicated day.

"You okay?" Damon asked.

She shrugged. "John is dead," she said. "I killed him." She looked up at him beseechingly. "I . . . thought you should know."

So John was dead . . . That was one problem gone. But they had gained an even bigger one.

"Yeah, about that," Stefan said, "aren't we pretty much screwed now? Those files that he has . . ."

"Had. I took his ring, Stefan. He's not coming back." Rebecca shook her head. "And we're okay. I wouldn't have taken the chance if our asses weren't covered."

Diana had made it where John Gilbert had never even existed. They wouldn't be able to identify him with dental records. His files and everything else about him had been systematically wiped off the map.

Damon could see the emotions play out over her face and knew she wasn't happy that she'd had to kill someone. Even if the guy had been a dick. But she was even more worried about what everyone would think once they found out about it.

* * *

Elena came downstairs a few minutes later and met them in the kitchen. She'd explained a few things to Jeremy because she couldn't keep lying to him.

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked.

"No, I'm not alright. I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better.

"I know," Stefan said. "We all did."

"Katherine was in this house. That means that she's been invited in. What're we gonna do?"

"Move," Damon said, half-serious.

"Very helpful. Thank you," Elena quipped.

"Katherine wants you dead, there's zero you can do about it, you will be dead," Damon said bluntly. "But you're not, so clearly she has other plans."

"Right," Stefan said. "And we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process."

Rebecca knew that was directed at Damon. He _was_ the ornery one.

"What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?"

Damon didn't know if he should say anything or not because it hadn't been Elena. He should maybe apologize for accusing her of being a manipulative bitch.

"To risk another frown line encroaching on an already _very_ crowded forehead . . . she . . . tried to kiss me."

Damon felt Rebecca's hand suddenly grab his arm possessively. He hadn't know how bothered she'd been until just then. This Katherine thing had shaken her. They would have to talk about it later.

"And you thought it was Elena?" Stefan asked.

Damon shrugged. "She was playing a game. Something she's very good at."

"I remember," Rebecca said softly. "Damon, what are we gonna do now?"

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. If Katherine thinks she's being ignored, it'll lure her out. She'll make a move."

"And then what?" Stefan asked.

"Stake her, rip her head off, something poetic. We'll see." Damon turned to Rebecca. "Ready to go?"

She nodded and Damon led her out by her hand. He knew she'd want to go home because that was where Chelsea was. Robert had taken her home from the parade that night before the device had gone off. And Damon wasn't going to leave her alone that night. He hadn't forgotten that Rebecca was on Katherine's hit list. She'd been sending loose cannons her way for the past few months.

Katherine wanted Rebecca dead.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Rebecca couldn't sleep. She was at her father's house. After everything that had happened at the parade, Rebecca wanted to be with her family. Well, with Chelsea and Robert, anyway. Damon was there, too. Rebecca's dad still had a "No Sex In The House" rule, but he was okay with Damon staying the night.

But back to Rebecca not sleeping. She'd taken John's ring from him after she'd snapped his neck but before she'd tossed him into the fire. And now she was holding that ring in the palm of her hand and she felt as if the metal was burning a hole into her skin.

She kept hearing the _snap_ as she'd twisted John's neck hard enough to break it. She kept seeing the light go out of his eyes before she'd pushed him down the stairs into the flames.

Unbidden and unwelcome, tears fell from her eyes and she sniffled. Instantly, Damon's hand landed on hers. He'd had his eyes closed, but he hadn't been sleeping.

"Becca . . ."

"Hm?" she grunted.

"Talk to me."

Rebecca knew he wanted her to tell him what was wrong. She really didn't know how to explain it to him.

"I don't know how."

"Start at the beginning," he prompted.

"Okay," she said meekly. "Well, ever since the incident with Chase . . . and when John helped him take Chelsea and kidnap me, I've wanted John dead. And now he is. I killed him. I thought it would make me feel better, but it doesn't. It really doesn't." Rebecca let out a sob. "All I have is this voice in my head telling me that I killed someone. I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway. And when Elena and Jeremy find out . . . they're never gonna forgive me."

"That's not true."

Damon knew her friends wouldn't abandon her completely. They may get mad at her for a while, but they would eventually forgive her.

"I didn't think I'd care that I killed him, because I hated him, I really did. But I do care. All I can think about is that I shouldn't have done it, and now I have all this guilt that I don't know how to get rid of."

"I'm . . . I'm sorry. I don't know how to help you with this," Damon said, which wasn't true. He knew how to get rid of the guilt, but he didn't want her doing it. He didn't want her to use her humanity switch like he had; he didn't want that for her. He didn't want her to suddenly not care and then wake up one day and realize she'd turned into an awful person. "I've almost forgotten what it's like to feel guilty about that."

"Yeah . . . I just . . . I don't know how to explain what I'm thinking."

"You?" Damon said, trying to lighten the mood. "What about your word vomit?"

When Rebecca didn't smile, Damon pulled Rebecca closer so half of her body was on his. She had her face against his chest and he held her as her body convulsed with her sobs.

"Hey, what you did was perfectly normal and nothing you should be ashamed of. You're a vampire now. And you're new. If you lose control, it's -"

"But I didn't lose control!" Rebecca muttered angrily. "I was perfectly in control and that's the problem. I didn't snap, and I'm not a Ripper. I knew what I was doing and . . ."

Damon listened as she trailed off. She felt guilty because John's death had been premeditated. And it hadn't been self-defense. Until now . . . she'd never killed anyone without it being to protect herself.

Damon sat them both up and cupped her face so she _had_ to look at him.

"Becca, listen to me. John helped Chase kidnap you, helped put you in a position that would've gotten you seriously hurt had you not known how to defend yourself. He helped get to Chelsea. Doesn't matter if he brought her back or not, he still took her. You had every right to take him out for doing that. Chelsea is like . . . like a daughter and you're a predator now. He was a threat to all of us and, like you said tonight at Elena's, if you hadn't done it, I would have."

Damon saw that Rebecca knew and understood all that. It was just getting her to believe it that was the problem. He hated it when Rebecca cried. It made him feel like he wasn't doing something right.

Rebecca clenched the material of his shirt and whimpered a little.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just a little messed up right now. John . . . and Caroline . . ."

"Caroline will be fine. You know how vampire blood works."

"Yeah, I do. Then there's Katherine, who -"

"You don't need to worry about her."

"Don't I?" Rebecca asked softly. "She took you from me last time, Damon. She can't have you back. I don't care why she's here."

Damon looked at her in shock. "Rebecca, there's . . . She compelled me away from you. You know that. Are you honestly worried about that?"

"She already tried to kiss you, Damon. She . . . she . . ."

"And I stopped her," Damon said. "I will always stop her."

"Good. And . . . I have a confession to make."

"Uh-oh. What?"

"I fed from Ric. He let me feed from him earlier tonight. I know that when a person is willing to let a vampire feed from them it creates a sort of bond and I needed you to know about it. I didn't want anyone else telling you, and I definitely didn't want you to find out accidentally from Ric, so . . ."

Damon pulled her closer. He didn't know what Rebecca expected him to do. He wasn't jealous and he wasn't angry. If Ric had allowed her to feed from him, then it was probably for a good reason. Rebecca must've taken him bringing her closer as a sign of possessiveness, though, because she was quick to say, "He did it to save my life. So I wouldn't get caught."

"I'm not angry, Becca. If he saved your life then I'm grateful. I owe him. But, on a curious note, what kind of bond do you think you formed with him?"

Rebecca smiled a little and Damon felt it against his chest.

"A comfortable one. Like he's an older brother or something. Maybe even a very cool uncle."

Damon began petting her back soothingly. "Good."

"You don't have anything to worry about," she said. "I'm all yours."

Damon pressed his lips to her hair and scooted closer to her - if that were possible - and turned so he could face her.

"You should get some sleep. You've gotta go to the hospital and then you're supposed to meet me at the Lockwood mansion for the memorial thing."

Right. Elena had called her about an hour after Rebecca had gotten home and had told them that Mrs. Lockwood was holding a memorial to her husband the next day. It seemed a little soon to Rebecca, but she guessed Carol just wanted to get everything out of the way.

"I love you," Damon whispered.

"I love you, too," Rebecca returned the sentiment. "I also love that you can say it first now without feeling weird about it."

* * *

The next morning Rebecca woke up, woke Chelsea up, and got them both ready. Damon had left already since he had to help Carol with the memorial.

Rebecca arrived at the hospital the same time Bonnie did - Matt was already there; he'd stayed there with Liz all night.

"How is Caroline today?" Bonnie asked.

"Come see for yourself," Matt said. By the tone of his voice Rebecca could tell that the vampire blood had done its job.

Bonnie followed Matt, and Rebecca followed Bonnie. Chelsea seemed a little shy. She wasn't used to the hospital. When they got to Caroline's room, Rebecca smiled because Caroline was fine. She was awake and watching TV.

"Jersey Shore is on," the blond said, sitting up and smiling.

"Care! Care!" Chelsea exclaimed.

"Chelsea!" Caroline exclaimed back.

Bonnie rushed toward her friend and pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Ooh, careful. Still a little sore." Caroline's face scrunched up in pain.

"Sorry," Bonnie said, pulling away.

"It's okay." Caroline smiled again. "But they say I'm healing really quick."

Rebecca watched as Bonnie's eyes filled up with tears. Caroline noticed, too.

"My turn," Matt said, leaning down for a brief kiss from his girlfriend.

"Aw, isn't he cute?" Caroline asked. Then to Bonnie, "Why're you crying?"

Bonnie looked embarrassed and Matt slipped an arm around Bonnie's shoulders.

"Oh, Bon," Matt said.

"I'm just happy you're okay."

"We all are," Rebecca said. She poked her sister's stomach gently to get a few giggles out of her. "Aren't we, Chels?"

"Oh, I love you guys."

"We love you," Bonnie said.

Rebecca was glad Caroline was okay, but this did not get Bonnie off the hook for lying to them. They wouldn't be in this situation if Bonnie hadn't lied.

* * *

Damon was _not_ having fun. He was basically playing referee between Liz and Carol. Liz had shown up about five minutes ago. She'd said Caroline was fine; she was occupied with Matt and Bonnie and Rebecca.

"I wanna know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband," Carol said.

"I'm looking into it, but you have to be straight with me," Liz said. "Is there any reason Richard was affected by the vampire device?"

"What're you implying? That he was one of them?"

"No, no," Damon said. "No one's implying that."

"Your deputies screwed up, plain and simple," Carol said to Liz. "Which makes _you_ responsible."

"Your husband is the one who helped John Gilbert execute his idiot plan in the first place," Liz said.

"Liz -" Damon said.

Great, the two women were playing the blame game. And both had valid points. Richard had been the one to help John, and the deputies had screwed up.

"Someone got my husband killed."

"Hey," Damon said. "We're all on edge here. You've suffered a great loss. The whole town has. But we have to stick together, okay? Trust each other. We'll get through this."

Both women nodded at Damon and he nodded back. Damon had meant what he'd said. The town did need to stick together and trust each other. They were going to have a hell of a time getting past the death of the mayor. Damon was going to have a hard time figuring out what the mayor had been, what Tyler was.

Maybe he could get Rebecca to ask for Diana's help again. The woman really did owe Rebecca her life.

* * *

Rebecca left the hospital with Bonnie when Caroline fell asleep. Caroline had lost a lot of blood and the vampire blood wouldn't fix that. She had to replenish the fluid on her own.

Outside the hospital, Bonnie stopped Rebecca at her car. Rebecca began putting Chelsea into her car seat.

"Becca . . ." Bonnie said pleadingly. "Please talk to me. I'm sorry I lied to you, but -"

"Don't, Bonnie. I'm . . . I'm just glad Caroline's okay. Please don't lie to me again, okay? At least not about something like that."

Rebecca really didn't want to talk about what had happened because she didn't want to think about it.

After that Rebecca left for the Lockwood mansion with Bonnie following her. Rebecca pulled up behind a black Ford Bronco. Rebecca got out of her car and got Chelsea out of the car seat. She watched Bonnie get out of her car and then she saw the man from the Bronco get out.

The man looked familiar. Brown hair, hazel eyes on the green side, gapped teeth, surfer boy looks.

"So the black sheep returns," Tyler, who was standing at the door greeting people, said to the man.

"Tyler?" the man said.

"Yeah."

"What happened to you? In my mind, you're 12 years old."

"That's two years older than the last time you saw me, Uncle Mason."

_Mason!_ Rebecca thought. _Mason Lockwood!_

He had been fun to play with when she'd been a kid. He had been a great baby-sitter; he hadn't been strict at all.

Rebecca watched Tyler and Mason hug and then she walked up to the two guys and waited for Tyler to notice her. It didn't take Tyler long.

"Hey, Becca."

"Hey, Ty."

"Becca?" Mason said, his eyes wide. "Little Becky?"

Rebecca cringed. "I hate that name."

She hugged Tyler and then Tyler showed her, Bonnie, and Mason inside. Chelsea was shy around Mason because she didn't know him. Rebecca found Damon as soon as she walked in. He was to the side talking with Liz, but he looked her way and smiled a little.

Rebecca smiled back. She was going to help Mason find Carol and then she was going to go talk to Liz and Damon.

"Thank you for coming, Mason," Carol said when they found her. "It's so good to see you."

"You too. I wish I had come sooner. I hate the way I left things with my brother."

"Well, we always think there's gonna be more time, but . . ."

Before Carol could start sobbing, Mason grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. Rebecca gestured that she was going to leave them to it and Mason nodded.

* * *

Damon had been watching Rebecca with some guy that was hugging Carol. Rebecca seemed to know him, but Damon had never seen the man before.

"Hey, who's the guy with Carol?" he asked Liz.

"That's the mayor's younger brother, Mason Lockwood."

"Is he on the council? Like John was when he rolled in?"

"No, he's nothing like John," Liz said. "For one, he's not an ass. He's not a believer either. He wants nothing to do with the council. He's too preoccupied with finding the perfect wave."

"Hm. Thanks."

Liz walked away, but Rebecca came to stand beside him with Chelsea. Damon smiled when the girl reached for him, but his heart clenched painfully because he knew that he and Rebecca might not have her much longer. Ever since Chase had used Chelsea against them, Rebecca had become hell bent on doing what was best for Chelsea; the problem was they didn't know if it was to keep her with them all the time or to send her away with Robert when he moved so she would get away from all the supernatural drama. If it was up to him, he'd keep her always.

But . . . with Katherine in town . . . Rebecca might change her mind a million times before settling on what she thought was best.

"How's our baby girl doin'?" Damon asked softly, taking Chelsea from Rebecca.

Rebecca smiled at his antics. Chelsea was happy to be in Damon's arms. Chelsea was giggling and it made Rebecca's stomach clench happily - it was an _everything's good _clench.

"Who's Mason?" Damon asked.

"He used to babysit me. He was fun."

"He's also a Lockwood." Damon stared at her intensely. "Be careful."

Bonnie, who had politely paid her respects to Carol and Tyler, came up to them. She looked solely at Damon before speaking.

"Did you know the Gilbert device affected Tyler Lockwood?"

"Well, I know it took the mayor down," Damon said. "Rebecca told me the rest."

Damon, with Chelsea still in his arms, walked toward the dining room. Rebecca and Bonnie followed him. There were refreshments laid out on the table. Damon grabbed a grape and Rebecca grabbed a strawberry. When the juice hit Rebecca's tongue she let out a glorious moan and let the liquid roll over her whole tongue.

Damon forgot all about Bonnie when he saw Rebecca's pleasure face. He felt a twitch in his jeans because of the sound she'd made. He felt another twitch when she blushed. Rebecca had obviously realized she'd made a very suggestive noise.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I'm not used to human food since . . ."

Hm. Human food. Whipped cream, honey, melted chocolate. Those three things plus a bed and unlimited time could call for a very fun-filled evening.

"Don't you wanna know why?" Bonnie asked, pulling Damon back to the present. The present where he felt like adjusting himself in his steadily tightening pants.

"Yes, Bonnie, I would _love_ to know why a non-vampire was tortured by the vampire torture device that you let John Gilbert use against us."

Damon picked up another grape.

"Speaking of your guilt, how's Caroline?"

"She's much better," Bonnie said fiercely.

"You're welcome."

"No, you're welcome."

"Why am I welcome?"

"You lived to see another day."

"No good deed goes unpunished with you, does it?" Damon asked.

Damon seemed amused while Rebecca was pissed. Bonnie was always picking on Damon. It made Rebecca super angry. A very low growling sound was coming from Rebecca's throat. It should've been a warning for the witch to back off.

"It doesn't undo the bad. I know what you are, Damon. You might have Rebecca and the sheriff and everybody else fooled, but not me. One wrong move and I'm gonna take you out."

"Now you need to stop with the witch's brew. You're startin' to believe your own press."

The only thing keeping Rebecca in control was the fact that Damon wasn't really threatened by Bonnie. Right now all Bonnie was doing was talking.

"Hm . . ." Bonnie smirked.

Rebecca didn't know what Bonnie was doing until Damon grabbed onto his head and started grunting. If Rebecca hadn't been a vampire herself, Chelsea would've dropped to the floor. Chelsea, having been jolted none too gently, started crying. Wailing almost, it was so loud.

"Bonnie!" Rebecca hissed. "Stop it!"

The predator part of Rebecca was telling her to kill Bonnie. Now. Bonnie was hurting Rebecca's mate and had unintentionally almost caused Chelsea to be hurt.

But . . . Bonnie . . . Rebecca couldn't kill Bonnie. They had been friends since . . . since the sandbox age.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Bonnie said sarcastically, sounding smug. "You were saying?"

Damon stopped grunting and holding his head. Rebecca guessed that meant his head was no longer hurting.

"Damon?" she said softly.

"I'm okay."

"Good."

Rebecca, however, wasn't. She was thirsty - her anger had made her throat burn with thirst. It was a thirst, a craving, she'd never had before. It was specific. _Bonnie_ had pissed her off, so it was Bonnie's blood Rebecca wanted. But she wouldn't allow herself to have it. It was still a good thing Bonnie left the room, though, because the witch was a temptation.

* * *

Damon had been watching Rebecca struggle with her thirst for the past ten minutes. It seemed Bonnie drove Rebecca's blood lust crazy. The veins were slowly becoming apparent under her eyes. Damon understood her mood completely. Bonnie had been hurting him. He was her mate, her equal. The part of her that was connected to her vampire side wanted to kill anything that threatened him. His predator side felt the same about her.

Then there was Chelsea. If Bonnie had inadvertently caused him to hurt Chelsea, Damon would've killed the witch himself. Damon pulled his two girls closer. Rebecca because he was going to hide her face against his chest, and Chelsea because he'd almost dropped her and he needed to know she was okay.

The little girl gently touched his head where he'd been pressing to try and take the pain away. It was almost like Chelsea _knew _he'd been hurting a few short minutes ago

"Day," she said, in her baby voice. "Ow?"

Damon grabbed Chelsea's hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss her little baby fingers. He didn't know what was going on with Chelsea, but something was, because no baby was this perceptive. Or he'd never heard of one being like this before.

"Day's okay," he assured her, using her nickname for him. "I'm okay."

He felt Rebecca turn her head and he looked down at her. Rebecca was smiling peacefully now. She no longer looked angry or ready to attack the first witch she happened to see.

* * *

"Oh, my God. Damon drives me crazy."

Bonnie had stormed away in a huff after almost making Rebecca attack her. Couldn't Rebecca see why Bonnie was angry at Damon? Rebecca was a vampire now. Damon had turned her into a predator - an animal that would kill to survive.

Bonnie had seen Elena and had headed straight for her. Elena looked at her when she spoke, so Bonnie continued.

"He's walkin' around like he's some kind of hero for healing Caroline and . . ." Bonnie trailed off because she didn't really know what else to say. As far as Bonnie knew, Elena was friends with Damon, which meant Bonnie wouldn't get much help from her.

"Whatever. Hateful Damon moment over."

Elena smiled and Bonnie returned it. Bonnie touched Elena's arm only to get the shock of a lifetime. That cold, death-like feeling she got from vampires was now radiating off of Elena.

Oh, God.

"Um, I've gotta find Tyler. Pay my respects. I'll be back."

"Okay," Elena said, nodding.

Bonnie hurried back inside and dialed Elena's phone. She was hoping the vampire she'd just talked to wasn't Elena but Katherine.

"Hello?" Elena answered.

"Elena, where are you?"

"Bonnie, I know, I'm late. I'm getting in the car now. I'll be there in five."

Bonnie hung up when the line went dead. Elena wasn't there yet, so Katherine was here in town. She wondered if the others knew? If they didn't, she had to let them know. When Bonnie turned around she almost screamed. The Elena look-alike was there.

"We haven't officially met. I'm Katherine."

Bonnie had never understood Rebecca when she'd said you could tell the difference between Elena and Katherine because of their eyes. But now . . . Bonnie understood. Katherine's eyes were cold and held a sort of distant amusement.

"I know who you are," Bonnie said.

"Of course you do." Katherine smiled. "You're the best friend, right? I've been putting all the pieces of Elena's life together. Isobel told me it was a bit of a puzzle. I do know who Jenna and Jeremy are. I've met the delicious ex-boyfriend, Matt, who's sweet on Caroline. And then there's you. The vampire-hating Bennett witch. Did I do good?"

"You missed one," Bonnie said, backing away toward the door.

"Oh, yes. Rebecca. Vampire Slayer turned vampire. How's that working out for her? Is the guilt eating away at her yet? It will, you know. Slayer's are born with an annoying quality called good intentions, which, of course, is magnified now that she's a vampire."

"Rebecca doesn't kill humans," Bonnie defended her friend.

"Really?" Katherine smirked. "What do you think happened to John Gilbert? Ask her what she did with his ring."

What? No. Rebecca wouldn't have killed John. She didn't kill people.

Bonnie went to run, but Katherine ran in front of her. Bonnie gathered all her strength and sent a burst of magic towards Katherine's brain. She imagined Katherine's blood vessels going pop over and over again.

Katherine grabbed her head and started groaning. It lasted for about five seconds and then Katherine was fine.

"I've been around a long time, Bonnie. You're gonna have to do better than that."

Suddenly Bonnie was pressed up against the wall, Katherine holding her there by her throat. Reacting instinctively, Bonnie made the door open so Katherine couldn't do anything without exposing herself.

"Nice," the brunette complimented.

"Katherine," a male voice said.

"Stefan."

"Leave her alone," he said firmly.

"Okay," Katherine said easily, letting Bonnie go.

Bonnie watched Katherine walk past Stefan and then Stefan followed the lunatic.

* * *

Stefan had arrived at the Lockwood mansion a few minutes before and he'd heard Katherine talking to Bonnie. He'd known it wasn't Elena because Elena hadn't even left her house yet.

Katherine had had Bonnie against the wall, choking her. But she'd let her go when Stefan had told her to.

"What're you doing here?" Stefan asked, following her to the refreshment table.

"After the way you treated me last night I thought a public place would be less violent."

Katherine grabbed a glass of red wine and took a sip.

"You're takin' this a little far, don't you think? Elena could walk in at any moment."

"Mm, but that's part of the fun, Stefan. Damon's here, somewhere. I've been avoiding him."

The brunette picked a cherry from a batch of the fruit and would've eaten it had Matt not walked up to them.

"Hey, guys," Matt said.

"Hi, Matt."

Stefan was surprised that Katherine had slipped into Elena mode so easily, but she sounded exactly like her.

"I, uh, heard that Caroline's doing much better. Her recovery was practically miraculous. You must be so relieved."

"I am," Matt said, nodding. "Thanks, Elena."

Matt walked away, probably going to find Tyler, and then Katherine dropped the Elena act.

"Oh, his eyes are so blue."

"You need to leave now," Stefan said firmly.

"You're hurting my feelings, Stefan," Katherine sing-songed. "Though, to be honest, Damon wasn't that happy to see me either. Then again, he thought I was your girlfriend, so . . ."

"Katherine, I'm not doing this with you."

"Okay. How about we don't have a couple's fight in front of your friends? Walk with me."

"Just tell me what you're doing here."

"Maybe I missed you." Katherine sounded sincere, but Stefan knew she was a master liar. "Is that an acceptable reason?"

Katherine was so different from Elena. Elena had confidence, yes, but Katherine . . . she was dripping with conceit. She was _over_ confident. If Stefan were to look up vanity in the dictionary, Katherine's picture would be right beside it.

"What game are you playing?"

"Why? You wanna play with me?" Katherine asked, grinning, smiling genuinely. Humor was very apparent in her eyes.

Stefan was reminded of why he'd fallen for her charms in 1864. She had a very likable personality when she was in a playful mood.

"I don't know," Stefan said, deciding to play along. "How can I play if I don't know the rules."

"No rules, Stefan. Don't you remember? No rules."

Katherine walked around him and stopped at the entrance. She held her hand out for Stefan to take. Stefan looked at her and shook his head. He walked past her without attempting to grab her hand. All he was thinking was that he had to get Katherine away from everyone. If he upset her, someone innocent would pay the price.

* * *

"Looks like the whole town has turned out," Jenna said.

Jeremy, Jenna, and Elena had run into Rebecca, Damon, and Chelsea, and they were talking near the entrance of the Lockwood mansion.

"Yeah, well, he is . . . he _was_ the mayor," Elena said.

"Why don't they save it for the funeral?" Jeremy asked.

"It's what people do," Jenna explained. "The Lockwoods were there for us when we went through this. And it'll be quick. We'll drop off the food, pay our respects, go."

"In and out? Sounds like a plan."

Jenna, who had some kind of casserole in her hands, went to place the dish on a table, and Jeremy went off on his own. Rebecca really wanted to follow him so she took Chelsea from Damon and went after her friend.

Elena had stayed behind to talk to Damon. Damon, who looked a little guilty.

"Hey, how're you doing?" she asked.

"Great, Elena. Walkin' on sunshine. Thanks for asking."

"Damon . . ."

"Elena . . ." he mimicked.

"We should be able to talk about this. Damon, we're close enough now. I really wanna know how you're doing."

She looked up at him with big brown eyes and Damon wondered how in the world he'd thought Katherine had been Elena the other night. Their eyes were so different.

"Okay. We talked, you tried to kiss me. Or I _thought_ you tried to kiss me. Doppelganger high jinks ensued. How do you think I'm doing?"

"I think that you're hurt," Elena said bluntly. "I think you thought I was betraying you and Rebecca."

"I don't get hurt, Elena."

"No, you don't admit that you get hurt. You get angry and you cover it up and then you do something stupid."

Damon wondered why they were having this conversation. Elena hadn't been the one to try to kiss him, so he didn't really understand her place in it. Unless . . .

"You're scared," he accused. "You think Katherine's gonna send me off the deep end, don't you?"

Elena didn't answer, so Damon figured he was speaking the truth.

"I don't need her for that," Damon said. "And why - why is it such a surprise that I thought you would kiss me?"

Elena stared at him blankly.

"I've taken you to a dance, Elena. And . . . taken into context that I thought it was _you_ making the moves the other night . . . a lot of stuff that's happened in the last few weeks took on a different meaning."

"Oh . . ." Elena nodded. "I, uh . . . I guess that makes sense. But I'm with Stefan, Damon. I . . . I wouldn't have . . . and even if Stefan weren't in the picture . . . I would never hurt Rebecca that way."

Damon knew that _now_, but he hadn't known Katherine was back at the time. He couldn't have known that Elena wasn't the one on the porch. Now that he knew Katherine was back, he needed to find out why she'd been trying to kiss him in the first place.

Was it just a game, or did she want something from him?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"So, I'm liking the new leather jacket," Rebecca told Jeremy as she walked with him down the hallway of the Lockwood mansion.

"It was my dad's," Jeremy said. "I stole it from the closet."

Rebecca smiled sadly. "I don't think anyone would care."

They came upon Tyler, who was sitting in the study drinking from a flask. Well, if there was ever a day to drink . . .

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about your dad," Jeremy said.

Tyler nodded bitterly. "Today's been a big day of sorries from people who really don't give a crap."

"I remember when my dad died I had a house full of strangers tellin' me what a great guy he was. Anyway, I know how hard all this is."

"Difference is, in your case, it was true," Tyler said. "My dad was a dick."

Tyler took another swig.

"Yeah, yeah, he was," Jeremy agreed.

"I found this in his desk." Tyler offered them the flask and Jeremy grabbed it. "He won't mind, he's dead."

"Yeah, you know what? Sure. Why not?"

Things were comfortable until Mason came in and asked what was going on.

"Nothin'," Tyler said.

Mason took a sip from the flask too, which was cool. Rebecca had thought they'd be in trouble - all of them were underage after all. Even if she was a vampire, she was still only eighteen, and Mason didn't know she was a vampire, so he would still think of her as an underage human.

Then Rebecca noticed something off about Mason Lockwood. He . . . smelled funny. Not human, but . . . Rebecca couldn't place exactly what he did smell like. It was just odd.

"So . . . when did you become a mom?" Mason asked Rebecca. He had a smile on his face so Rebecca was fairly certain he was joking.

"She's my sister," Rebecca specified. "But sometimes I feel like her mom."

A few minutes later Rebecca got a text from Bonnie saying Katherine was there at the mansion. Rebecca almost rolled her eyes. Of course Bonnie wouldn't hesitate to call a _vampire_ if she needed help. She texted Bonnie back and said she'd meet up with her in a minute. If Bonnie had met Katherine and was alive to text, then it was obvious that Katherine didn't mean the witch any harm. Yet, anyway.

"Jer, I have to go."

Jeremy looked at her strangely. She smiled at him reassuringly; someone would explain it to him later.

* * *

"The Lockwoods have a lot more land than they used to," Katherine said.

Stefan walked with Katherine across the Lockwood estate. He wanted answers; sometimes that meant doing things he didn't want to do. Like talking to a homicidal vampire who was also his ex-girlfriend.

"Possessions of all the tomb vampires brought them all a fortune."

"Yeah, and why did you want them dead? You're the one who turned most of them."

Katherine scoffed. "There's nothing more annoying than a vengeful vampire. Just ask John Gilbert." Katherine covered her mouth with a mocking gasp. "Oh, wait, he's dead."

"You haven't changed at all, have you?"

"But you have. You're stronger, meaner. Sexy."

"Don't flirt with me Katherine. I'm not Damon." Stefan glared at her. "And I haven't spent the last 145 years obsessed with you."

"Yeah, based on your choice of women, I'd say otherwise. Though I'll admit it does bother me that you've fallen in love with someone else."

"Oh, I was never in love with you, Katherine. You compelled me, so none of my feelings were real."

"Believe what you want, Stefan. But I know the truth. And deep down, so do you."

Katherine giggled like a schoolgirl.

"The truth? Well, the truth is you're the same lying, selfish, manipulative bitch you've always been. So whatever it is that brought you here . . . why don't you just get on with it and leave town? Because if you don't, I will hunt you down and I will rip your heart out."

Katherine looked hurt; her lips were even quivering. Her eyes were glistening.

"You wanna know why I'm here, Stefan?"

Stefan nodded.

"I came back for you."

"Well, the problem, Katherine," Stefan began, "is that I hate you."

"You hate me, huh?" Katherine suddenly grabbed a metal spike and shoved it into his stomach. "That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Stefan, not the end of one."

She pulled the spike out and then Stefan fell to his knees. He watched her walk away. She was going to leave him there to writhe in pain.

* * *

Rebecca decided to drop Chelsea off with her father. If Rebecca ran into Katherine, there would be a fight. Rebecca didn't know who would win, but there would definitely be a confrontation. And either way it ended, Chelsea didn't need to be there to see it. No one so young should witness violence of any kind.

Rebecca was out by the pond now because she'd gotten a text from Damon, who'd gotten a text from Stefan, stating that Katherine had attacked him. Elena was there already and was cleaning a wound on Stefan's stomach. Rebecca grimaced because the wound looked bad.

Damon had gone off to track Katherine - Rebecca hadn't leaned that yet; Damon had yet to teach her.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. I'll heal."

"That's not what I meant."

Stefan shook his head. "I was trying to figure her out. I was . . . playing along. I let her get to me."

"Tried to track Katherine, but she's gone," Damon said, coming back. When he saw Stefan with his shirt up and Elena cleaning the wound he said, "Ew, cover up, Fabio. We got a crazy ex on the loose. Better watch out," he told Elena. "Looks like Katherine's tryin' to steal your guy."

"Yeah, well," Elena said, not missing a beat. "Stefan's not the only one she wants. She tried to kiss you, Damon."

"That's not what's happening," Stefan said.

"Isn't it?" Damon asked spitefully.

"I'm gonna go check on Jenna and Jeremy," Elena said. She seemed uncomfortable. "Let me know when you guys are done."

Elena grabbed her purse and stalked off. Rebecca would've gone with her, but she really wanted to know what Stefan and Damon were going to say.

"Katherine's gonna try to play us against each other, you know that, right?" Stefan asked.

"Brother, don't worry," Damon said with mock sincerity. "Our bond is unbreakable."

"We need to stay united against her," Stefan stood up and stared at Damon.

"I thought Elena tried to kiss me," Damon said.

"I know," Stefan admitted. "And as much as I'd like to kill you for that . . . I'm not gonna fight you. And I'm not gonna let Katherine come here and destroy the part of you that is _finally,_ after all this time, willing to feel something."

Rebecca thought that Stefan was making sense. Katherine would destroy Damon - what Rebecca had helped him become - if he let her. And Rebecca was afraid of that. They had come so far together. She didn't want Damon to go back to how he'd been when she'd first met him.

"She'll try to break you," Stefan said. "She'll try to break us. And how we respond to that will define us. It's our choice. So, no, I'm not gonna fight you."

Rebecca suddenly felt tears prick her eyes. God, what if Katherine _did_ want Stefan and Damon back? What if she was here to mess with her and Damon? And Stefan and Elena? Rebecca would kill Katherine before she let her near Damon again. Katherine couldn't have Damon, not again. _Not ever again_.

* * *

Rebecca left with Elena, Jeremy and Jenna - she didn't want to be around Damon or Stefan, not after the argument she'd heard. Elena had made a good point earlier; Katherine hadn't only gone after Stefan. Granted, Katherine had pretended to be Elena when she'd gone after Damon, but still . . . _Why_ had she done it?

That wasn't the only reason she had gone home with Elena and Jeremy. She needed to talk to them about John, about what she had done to John. Plus, she didn't want the ring anymore. It was just a reminder of what she'd done.

Rebecca had basically dragged Jeremy and Elena up to Elena's room. Now she was suddenly very nervous.

"Guys, I have a confession to make." She looked at them both and she knew they knew this was serious. "I killed John." Even though the door was closed and locked, she whispered.

"What?" Elena asked. "When?"

"Last night. When Stefan was bringing Damon out . . . John tried to stop us, so . . . I killed him."

"Good riddance," Jeremy said. "The guy was a dick."

"Jer!" Elena exclaimed. "Don't say that. You don't mean it."

"Don't I? He's the reason Anna's dead!"

Okay, so Jeremy was on Rebecca's side, at least. Rebecca wasn't sure about Elena yet. One could never be sure about the female Gilbert.

"Elena, I'm sorry. I know he was your biological father, but he was a threat to everyone. Me, Damon and Stefan included. He helped Chase kidnap me. He _knew_ what Chase would've done to me if I hadn't fought back, and he helped set it up anyway. But the biggest mistake he made was going after Chelsea and going after Damon."

Rebecca knew that John had been taught to hate them, the vampires. Different circumstances it could've been her trying to get the Gilbert device to destroy all the vampires. But for the grace of having had different parents, Rebecca could've ended up like John. Alone, bitter, filled with hatred.

"Becca," Elena said firmly. "You can't kill someone every time they -"

"Leave her alone," Jeremy said. "She was doing what she had to do to protect the people she loves."

"Jer!"

Rebecca felt the tears fall from her eyes and Jeremy was there immediately, wrapping his arms around her. Rebecca hated having arguments where both Jeremy and Elena were involved. Jeremy inevitably picked Rebecca's side and then Elena hated her for a few weeks because Jeremy agreed with her.

"Please don't hate me," she said, her voice muffled because of her face being against Jeremy's chest.

"I don't hate you," he whispered reassuringly.

There was a pregnant pause from Elena, and then Rebecca heard her sigh. "I don't hate you, Rebecca, and I'm not mad. I'm just . . . disappointed. I thought you didn't want to kill anyone."

Rebecca flinched at the word 'disappointed'. Elena didn't hate her, but Elena was disappointed in her. Elena didn't understand that Rebecca was a predator now. It was her instinct to kill someone she viewed as a threat.

"Becca," Jeremy said softly, "come on, let's go to my room."

"Jer . . ." Elena said just as softly.

"No, Elena. All you're doing is making her feel bad about herself." Then more gently, "She's new. She's not going to be able to control herself all the time. I mean, look at Stefan and Damon. They've been vampires for almost a century and a half and they still lose control sometimes."

Once in Jeremy's room Rebecca let loose and sobbed.

"I didn't want to kill him, Jer. You know that, right? I just . . . he couldn't be here and there was no way he could go away, not with the knowledge he had. It had to be done."

"I understand, Becca. You don't have to explain this to me. Okay? I still trust you not to hurt _me_ or Elena or anyone else you care about. You _did_ this for the people you care about."

Rebecca smiled tentatively up at him; he was being sincere.

"I love you, Jer," she said.

He smiled back at her. "I love you too, Rebecca."

"I have something for you," she said, beginning to dig through her jeans pocket. She pulled out the piece of jewelry that she'd taken from John. "This ring. It protects you from supernatural harm. It belonged to your dad. Considering who you hang out with, I think your dad would want you to have it."

She handed the ring to Jeremy, who studied it for a moment. "Ric has one just like it," he finally said.

"Yeah, he does." Rebecca smiled. "John gave his real ring to a girl named Isobel, and Isobel gave it to Ric. Isobel was Ric's wife. John took your dad's after your dad died."

"Why didn't the ring protect my dad? Why is he still dead?"

"What happened to your parents wasn't supernatural. It was an accident," Rebecca said softly. "There's nothing that can save us from that."

"I wonder what he'd think of all this," Jeremy said. "Me hanging out with vampires, trying to become one. Almost killing myself."

"Your dad was a good man," Rebecca said honestly. "And you're still young, still a teenager. Sometimes I wish I could be like that. My teenage life was stolen the minute I found out about vampires. My human life was taken the minute I fell in love with Damon."

"You don't like being a vampire?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I like the speed, the strength. But, no. I have to fight the urge to rip someone's head off if they make me angry. When I'm hungry, I have the urge to tear someone's throat open. I don't like it. The only reason I didn't let myself die when I woke up was because I couldn't leave Damon all alone. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never leave him, not intentionally. So . . . all of this is for Damon, to be with Damon."

Rebecca felt more tears come to her eyes. "I can't tell Damon that. He would only blame himself and I don't want that."

* * *

Meanwhile at the boardinghouse, Damon arrived hoping to see Rebecca and Chelsea there. Neither were. He didn't know where Rebecca had run off to. He hadn't seen her since they'd all been at the Lockwood mansion.

He knew Rebecca was feeling self-conscious about Katherine being in Mystic Falls. He didn't know what else he could do that he hadn't already done to make her feel better, make her more secure. He couldn't think of anything he'd done to make her think he'd choose someone else over her, so he didn't know why she felt that way.

Damon poured himself a drink. It would help him mull things over.

Suddenly Katherine was there on the couch. Damon hadn't even realized she was in the house.

_"Very_ brave of you to come here," Damon threatened.

"I wanted to say good-bye," she said.

"Leaving so soon?"

"I know where I'm not wanted," Katherine admitted softly.

"Don't pout. It's not attractive in a woman your age." Damon took a sip of his drink before placing the glass on the table.

"Ouch," Katherine said.

Damon rolled his eyes and started to walk away. He heard Katherine running and wasn't surprised when she ended up in front of him.

"What, no good-bye kiss?"

"Why don't I kill you instead?"

Katherine scoffed.

"What're you doing here?" Damon asked.

"Nostalgia, curiosity, etc."

"I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine. What're you up to?"

Katherine shook her head. "Trust me, Damon. When I'm up to something, you'll know it." She moved closer to him. "Come on. Kiss me, or kill me. Which will it be, Damon? We both know that you're only capable of one."

Damon turned away from her, but she grabbed him and pushed him to the floor. He hit the wood hard and grunted at the impact.

"My sweet, innocent Damon," Katherine purred.

Her hand stayed near his throat but she wasn't actually choking him. Damon reacted to the woods Katherine had said because _Rebecca_ used to call him that. She still sometimes called him _My sweet Damon_.

Damon flipped them over so he was on top. He _did_ choke her. He glared down at her and she smirked up at him. Katherine brought her hands up to Damon's face and yanked him down for a kiss. Damon wasn't used to someone using a kiss as a distraction - he was the one who usually pulled that trick; he may have even invented it - but when he realized what was happening he pushed away from her, letting go of her throat. He got up and put as much distance between them as the room would allow.

That was when he noticed Rebecca standing in the archway of the parlor. She didn't look happy. In fact, she looked down-right pissed.

"Becca . . ." he said. Which part had she walked in on. The kiss, or what had happened before the kiss.

"Aw . . . did the girlfriend get a good show?" Katherine sneered, standing up.

"Shut up, Katherine," Damon snapped.

Rebecca had arrived home to a very bad sight. Katherine had been on top of Damon, on the floor. She'd called him "My sweet, innocent Damon" and Damon had flipped them over. Neither Damon nor Katherine seemed to notice Rebecca had even been there. Rebecca had almost growled at Katherine, had almost gone to the brunette to stake her right then, but she hadn't been able to move. Another part of her had wanted to see what Katherine was going to do and see how Damon would react.

Rebecca had felt her heart stop when Katherine kissed Damon, but when Damon had shoved away from her, Rebecca smiled. He'd done that without knowing she was there. It didn't matter what Katherine wanted . . . because Damon didn't want her back.

Then when Damon had realized she was there he'd said her name so softly, and had looked so vulnerable and scared, like he thought she would blame him for the kiss, but Rebecca had seen Katherine force the kiss.

"Hello, Katherine," Rebecca said. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, I was _trying_ to seduce Damon, but - "

Rebecca growled at the brunette and flashed forward and grabbed Katherine by her hair. She tossed the brunette across the room and onto the floor. Rebecca didn't give her time to get up; She wrapped a hand around Katherine's throat and held her down.

"He's _my_ sweet Damon," Rebecca hissed.

Rebecca's voice was muffled because her face had changed and she had to talk through her fangs.

"You're gonna stay away from him or I _will_ kill you." Rebecca made it clear that she was promising, not threatening.

It wasn't until Katherine tried to move that Rebecca realized that she was stronger than Katherine. Katherine realized the same thing at the same time because her eyes widened and she began to struggle harder to get free.

"Wait a minute," Damon said. "I have a question. I just need the truth. Just once."

Damon had been watching the cat fight getting ready to start and didn't know if he should lend a hand or not. Rebecca seemed to be holding her own fairly well. Damon had been surprised when Rebecca had shown up and he'd been glad Rebecca seemed to understand that the kiss and everything that had transpired afterward hadn't been his fault.

Damon had almost grinned when Rebecca claimed him in front of Katherine. Rebecca had never been the outwardly possessive type but now . . . she was, he guessed. He didn't hate it. As long as she didn't get too out of hand with it . . . he didn't mind it.

"I already know your question," Katherine gasped out. "And it's answer."

Rebecca looked at Damon and then at Katherine. What was going on? Rebecca didn't understand what was happening.

"Damon?"

"Let her up, Becca," Damon said softly.

Rebecca had trouble listening to that particular request because it was _Katherine_ he was asking her to let go.

"Please," Damon said.

She loosened her grip on Katherine's neck, and the brunette pushed her away. "The truth is," Katherine said, looking at Damon, "I've never loved you."

Rebecca still didn't understand why this conversation was taking place. What did it matter if Katherine had never loved Damon? She'd compelled him to be with her.

"It was always Stefan."

To the casual observer, the brunette actually seemed genuinely sorry for having hurt Damon's feelings, but Rebecca didn't think Katherine could feel anything real.

Just as quickly as Katherine could, she grabbed a container from Damon's stash of alcohol and smashed it into the side of Rebecca's face. Rebecca screamed from the glass cutting into her skin, and then from the alcohol going into her wounds; it burned.

"Becca!" she heard Damon exclaim.

Damon watched as Katherine ran away but he wasn't really worried about _her_; he was more worried about Rebecca. She was holding her face and her hands were trembling. He knew the glass had cut her because he could see the blood, but he needed to know if any of the glass had stuck in her skin.

He knelt beside her and tilted her chin up. He almost growled when he saw that a few pieces of glass were visible from her cheek.

"Becca," he whispered, pushing her hair back. "Don't move. I'll be back."

She nodded agreeably and Damon took off upstairs and got the first aid kit; he needed the medical tweezers from it. When he got back downstairs, Rebecca was still sitting where she had been when he'd left her. She looked like she was in shock but at least she wasn't crying.

"Becca," he asked gently, kneeling down in front of her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She jumped when he touched her and he jerked his hand back. Actually, it looked more like she'd flinched away from him.

"Becca . . ." Damon said hesitantly. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she want him touching her? She had never rejected his touch before.

"Why?" she asked. "Why did you ask her that question, Damon?"

Oh. She was mad at him because he'd wanted to know the truth about Katherine's feelings for him. He'd wanted to know if anything she'd compelled him to feel had been real for her. It obviously hadn't been.

"I just had to know," he said. "I don't expect you to understand, but -"

"Well, good, because I don't."

Damon looked at her and felt his heart clench painfully because she had tears in her eyes. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, but it was true that he'd wanted to know whether anything Katherine had told him in 1864 had been true. But it hadn't been. It wouldn't have made a difference, but he could've found it easier to accept if he hadn't only been a pawn in Katherine's twisted mind games.

"Are we not enough?" Rebecca asked. "Is my love not enough?"

"Becca, don't, okay? My question had nothing to do with what I feel. I just wanted to know how she felt back then. I was always curious."

"Why?" she asked. "What were you curious about?"

"About if she chose me to get at you or for some other reason."

"But why does it matter?" Rebecca asked. "She's a bitch."

"I know that!" Damon snapped, yelling. "But it mattered to me. She _used_ me."

Rebecca blinked, confused. Did it matter whether Katherine felt something for him? It wouldn't change anything. Katherine had still used him.

"If . . ." Damon stopped talking. For the first time ever Damon felt he couldn't talk freely to Rebecca. He didn't know how to put what he was feeling into words. "I don't know how to say this. But I needed the closure, Rebecca. I had to know because I couldn't start to get past it until I knew."

When Rebecca didn't speak after that. Damon hesitantly reached over to stroke her uninjured cheek and was relieved when she accepted his touch.

"Now let me help you," he said softly. "You can be mad at me after." He had to admit, though, that he admired that she was ignoring the pain so she could yell at him.

Rebecca nodded at his suggestion and began speaking as Damon helped her. "I'm stronger than her," she whispered. "She's older than me, so I shouldn't be stronger, but . . ."

"Right," Damon said. "About that."

"What?"

Damon spoke and pulled out the glass at the same time. "I've known you were different for a while." Damon seemed relieved that Rebecca had changed the subject. "You're faster than me. I never mentioned it because it never seemed important. It didn't matter to me."

"Hm."

As Rebecca listened to Damon, and as he was getting the shards of glass out of her cheek, she couldn't help but think that it didn't really surprise her that she was different..

"Well, I was a freak as a human, why not be a freak as a vampire too."

"Hey," Damon said. "You're not a freak. You're . . . unique. You were a vampire Slayer, which means you were stronger than a human. That's magnified. That doesn't mean you're a freak."

Rebecca was in a mood so she ignored his response. It wasn't until Damon wiped her face off that she remembered. She'd wanted to talk to him about something.

"Mason's weird," she said bluntly. "He smelled funny."

"He smelled funny?" Damon couldn't stop the grin from forming because of her words, but he sobered quickly. "Are you okay? You never answered."

"I just walked in on the evil-bitch-monster-of-death trying to molest my boyfriend." Rebecca said dryly. "I'm terrific."

"Becca . . ." Damon pleaded. "Please don't start."

Rebecca grabbed his hand and squeezed. "I also saw you push her away. So . . . I'm terrific."

This time she was serious and she seemed to have gotten over her mad spell. Maybe she'd realized how ridiculous it had been. That it didn't matter what question Damon had asked Katherine; he _loved_ Rebecca and he'd just been curious about Katherine.

"Anyway," Rebecca said, redirecting the conversation. "Mason smelled funny."

"So you said," Damon replied, amused. "Funny how?"

"I don't know. I couldn't place the smell. But he didn't smell human, if you know what I mean. Like, he's not someone I'd wanna chomp on. He didn't smell appetizing."

"Well, we know he's not human," Damon said. "The device wouldn't have worked on Tyler and Mayor Lockwood if they were human."

* * *

Rebecca had let the Katherine thing go for the night. She didn't want to argue with Damon anymore, not about Katherine anyway. Katherine wasn't worth it.

Before Rebecca and Damon went to bed Rebecca got a call from Elena asking her to come to the school the next day. They were having a carnival there tomorrow and they needed all the help they could get.

"Of course I'll be there, Elena." What with Caroline in the hospital, they didn't have the carnival-planning queen on hand. Rebecca would be needed. "Bright and early, promise."

"Okay, good."

Rebecca didn't know how Elena could have gone from being disappointed in her to wanting her help, but . . . there it was. What Elena didn't know was that Caroline had come to Rebecca a while back asking for her help. The carnival needed an entertainment act, so Rebecca had volunteered herself. She would sing and dance. Caroline had helped choreograph the dances for her.

When Rebecca finally went to bed, she felt a distance between her and Damon that had _never_ been there before. Katherine was going to ruin what she and Damon had if they let her. If _Rebecca _let her. Rebecca and Damon were basically on separate sides of the bed. The gap between them seemed much larger than just a few feet. Damon had _never_ given Rebecca a reason to think he'd felt love for anyone else but her. Fondness, maybe, for Elena and sometimes even Stefan, but no one else. And she still didn't understand why he'd needed to know about Katherine's feelings for him, but she knew he didn't like Katherine at all.

Slowly, Rebecca inched her way toward Damon and when she reached him she slid her hand into his to intertwine their fingers. She squeezed his hand and tensed until she felt his answering squeeze.

"Are you mad at me?" she whispered. "I didn't mean to make you angry earlier."

"I wasn't angry; I was frustrated. I've never had to explain something to you before. You usually just get me."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No, I just . . ." Damon turned on his side so he could look at her. "I shouldn't have expected you to get it. You've never been used by anyone, never been compelled to think you love that person."

"Well, no, I haven't. But you could explain it to me. Please? So I'll understand."

Damon thought about it. How could he explain everything to her in a way that would make her understand?

"Okay. Hypothetically . . . Imagine me and you before the time traveling spell."

"Okay . . ."

"Back then, before the spell, before us, imagine I had compelled you to be with me, to think you loved me. How would you feel?"

"Angry," Rebecca said quickly, instinctively. "And used."

"Exactly. But imagine wondering whether or not any of it was real. If you found out it was real for me wouldn't it help you forgive me?"

Rebecca stared at him for a few seconds. "You were trying to find a reason to forgive her? If she . . . If you'd found out she'd compelled you for some other reason than her using you against me, you could've forgiven her?"

Damon looked a little uncomfortable. "I could've tried. But she doesn't deserve my forgiveness and she doesn't seem to want it."

"That's because Katherine doesn't care about anyone but herself, Damon."

"I realize that now," he admitted.

Damon began stroking her side tenderly. He watched as she smiled softly and he smiled himself.

"I never meant for her to come between us, Becca. I never meant it that way."

Rebecca nodded and let her eyes flutter shut. "It's not all your fault. I'm just not . . . secure when it comes to her. Because of . . ."

"Because you think she'll keep coming after me," Damon finished for her.

"Yeah."

Damon wanted to remind her that he wasn't the one Katherine had been trying to kill for the last few month, but . . . now wasn't the time. She was really upset about the situation they were in. Reminding her of that particular detail wouldn't help at all.

* * *

Okay, here's my next offering. Damon may seem a little OOC in this chapter with the forgiveness and all, but remember he's different - a little - because he's actually got the girl he wants and he didn't wait 145 years just to have his heart ripped out. So that's my reasoning behind his OOC moment.


	4. announcement

Announcement

Okay, I know I haven't really been updating at all, but bear with me please. I have seven – count 'em SEVEN – people living with me and I'm in college now. I have been writing though, I just haven't had time to type things out. But I have almost 20 chapters written. When I get some time off I'm going to be typing away to make off for not having updated at all.

I'm so sorry guys! Love you and love you even more for sticking with me!


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